Distributor for silage or the like

ABSTRACT

A pyramidal-shaped body is rotatably mounted beneath the outlet end of a silage supply pipe. Each side of the body has a fin thereon with the fin being slightly divergent to a junction between the side of the body on which the fin is mounted and an adjacent side of the body remote from the fin. The body is adjustably positioned relative to the outlet end of the supply pipe in both vertical and angular directions.

United States Patent 1 Feb. 22, 1972 Halcomb [54] DISTRIBUTOR FOR SILAGEOR THE LIKE [72] Inventor: Winston C. Halcornb, Route 2, Richmond,

[22] Filed: Sept. 21, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 73,944

[52] US. Cl. ..2l4/17 CB, 198/128, 239/687,

[51] Int. Cl ..B65g 65/32 [58] Field of Search ..2l4/ 17 CB; 302/60;239/687; 198/128 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,691,683 11/1928 Townsend ..302/60 X 3,490,618 1/1970 Buschbom ..214/17 CB PrimaryExaminerRobert G. Sheridan Attorney-Frank C. Leach, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT I A pyramidal-shaped body is rotatably mounted beneaththe 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDFEB22 ma" 3.643.819

INVENTOR WINSTON C. HALCOMB BY ATTORNEY,

DISTRIBUTOR FOR SILAGE OR THE LIKE In filling a silo with silage, it isnecessary that the silage be substantially evenly distributed throughoutthe area of the silo. Otherwise, air pockets, which cause spoilage, forexample, will exist. Therefore, it is necessary that the silagebesubstantially equally distributed throughout the silo.

One previously suggested silage distributor has utilized an electricmotor driven device fordistributing the silage. However, this motordriven device is relatively expensive. F urthermore, the ,motor requireselectricity, and this is not always available at a silo.

Another structure for distributing the silage in a silo is shown in US.Pat. No. 1,691,683 to Townsend. The Townsend patent utilizes a conicalbody having spiral impeller blades on its outer surface for rotatingthebody when the silage and the pressurized air conveying the silageimpinge on the impeller blades. Each of the impeller blades has ascattering blade pivoted at the lower end of the impeller blade todirect the silage throughout the silo.

The scattering blades of the structure of the Townsend patent aredisposed beneath the bottom of the conical body and must contact thesilage as it moves offthe bottom of the conical body. Thus, each of thescattering blades can only distribute the portion of the silage that itcan contact. With relatively heavy silage, the amount of contact of eachof the scattering blades with the silage is reduced.

Furthermore, the conical body of the Townsend patent must be arranged sothat the longitudinal axis through the apex of the conical body isparallel to the longitudinal axis of the silo. Otherwise, one'of thescattering blades would not receive a significant amountof the silage.

US. Pat. No. 1,729,341 tov Johnson discloses a silage distributor havinga spreading cone disposed beneath the outlet of a supply pipe to spreadthe silage onto a plurality of-pitched blades, which rotate due to thesilage strikingthe blades. As the silage slides on the spreading cone,it can fall between the blades, particularly if the silage is relativelyheavy.

The structure of the Johnson .patent also requires that the axis ofrotation of both the pitched blades and the spreading cone be vertical.Thus, the silage distributor of the Johnson patent can be employed witha supply pipe havingits outlet arranged so that the silage is directedtherefrom only in avertical direction parallel to the longitudinal axisof the silo.

However, all supply pipes arenot mounted sothat the silage flowingtherefrom exits in a vertical direction and parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the silo. Thus, the structures of the Johnson and Townsendpatents are limited as to the types of supply pipes with which theycanbe employed.

The present invention satisfactorily solves the foregoing problems byproviding a relatively inexpensive distributor that is capable ofdistributing silage sufficiently equal throughout a silo irrespective ofwhether the silage is directed vertically from the outlet of the supplypipe and-irrespective of whether the silage is light or heavy.The-present inventionutilizes a single body with fins thereon to producethe desired results.

The body of the distributor of the present invention is shaped so thatit functions to'distribute the silage without the requirement of anyseparate set ofblades min the Townsend patent or separate spreading coneas in the Johnson patent. By utilizing the body to exert the centrifugalforce on the silage, all of the silage, irrespective of whether it islight or heavy, is effectively distributed substantially equallythroughout the area of the silo.

Since the present invention utilizes only the single body fordistributing the silage, the body may be disposed with its axis otherthan vertical. Thus, the distributor of the present invention does notrequire the silage to be directed vertically and parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the silo when the silage exits from the outlet ofthe supply or conveyor pipe forthe silage to be substantially equallydistributed throughout the area of the silo.

An object of this invention is to provide a distributor for silage orthe like to substantially equally distribute the silage in u silo or thelike. I

Another advantage of this invention is to provide a distributor forsilage or the like that may be used with silos or the like of differentdiameters while obtaining substantially equal distribution of the silageor the like throughout the silo or the like.

Other objects of this invention will be readily perceived from thefollowing description, claims, and drawing.

This invention relates to a distributor for silage or the like includinga pyramidal-shaped body having a plurality of sides meeting in a vertexwith means to rotatably mount the body. Each of the sides of the bodyhas a fin mounted on its outer surface. Each of the fins is disposed atan angle to a junction between the side of the body on which the fin ismounted and the side of the body closest to the fin so that the fincooperates with a junction between the side of the body on which the finis mounted and the side of the body remote from the fin to form a pathfor the silage. Each of the fins extends to substantially the base endof theside of the body.

The attached drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of theinvention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a silo into which silage isdistributed by using a distributor of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the distributor of the presentinvention and its support for attachment to the discharge or outletspout of a supply pipe;

FIG. 3 is a top'plan view of the distributor of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plane view of the distributor of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing the rotatablemounting support for the distributor of the present invention and thecooperating portion of the distributor.

Referring to the drawingand particularly FIG. 1, there is shown a silohaving an opening 11 at its upper end into which silage may be suppliedfrom a supply or conveyor pipe 12. The supply or conveyor pipe 12, whichcomprises a plurality of sections of pipe supported by the silo 10,extends upwardly from a blower 14 and has a discharge or outlet spout'15, which comprises two portions pivotally connected to each other at16, connected to its upper end.

. the distributor of the present invention comprises a pyramidal shapedbody 17, which is supported adjacent the outlet end of the discharge oroutlet spout 15 but in spaced relation thereto bya support 18. Thesupport 18 includes a pair of arms 19 and 20 (see FIGS. 2 and 5), whichare pivotally mounted on opposite sides ofthe discharge or outlet spout15 of the conveyor or supply pipe 12 by boltsand nuts, for example. Thearms 19 and 20 are integral with horizontal portions 21 and 22,respectively, of the support 18. The inner ends of the horizontalportions 21 and 22 terminate in vertical portions 23 and 24,respectively. An upstanding hollow rod is secured between the verticalportions 23 and 24 so that the rod 25 joins the vertical portions 23 and24 to each other.

The body 17 is rotatably mounted on bearings 26 and 27 (see FIG. 5) on arod 28, which is disposed within the hollow rod 25 and secured thereto.The body 17 has a hub 29, which is a hollow collar, for example,supported by a plate so that the upper end of the upper bearing 26 abutsagainst the bottom of the plate 30 and the hub 29 receives the bearings26 and 27. The plate 30 is fixed to the body 17 by having flanges 31(see FIG. 4) welded, for example, to inner surfaces of sides 32, 33, 34,and 35 of the body 17.

The pyramidal-shaped body 17 has a square shaped bottom or base. Itshould be understood that the body 17 may have its bottom or base inother polygonal shapes such as triangular, for example, as long as eachside of the bottom or base is of substantially the same length. Ofcourse, the length of each side of a triangular shaped base would bedifferent than the length of each side of a square shaped base.

The body 17 has the four sides 32, 33, 34, and 35 secured to each otherand terminating in a vertex 36. The vertex 36 is pointed towards theoutlet of the discharge or outlet spout 15 of the supply pipe 12.

Each of the sides 32, 33, 34, and 35 has a fin 37, 38, 39, and 40,respectively, mounted on its outer surface by being welded thereto, forexample. Each of the fins 37-40 has a flange that is welded, forexample, to the outer surface of the side of the body 17 on which thefin is mounted and an upstanding portion against which the silage andthe pressurized air from the outlet of the spout l5 impinge to rotatethe body 17 about the longitudinal axis of the rod 28.

The fin 37 is disposed at an angle of approximately 60 to a junction 41between the sides 32 and 33 and slightly divergent to a junction 42between the sides 32 and 35. Thus, the fin 37 is almost parallel to thejunction 42 between the side 32 on which it is mounted and the side 35,which is remote from the fin 37.

The fin 38 is disposed on the side 33 at an angle of about 60 to ajunction 43 between the sides 33 and 34 and slightly divergent, althoughalmost parallel, to the junction 41. The fin 39, which is mounted on theside 34, is disposed at an angle of approximately 60 to a junction 44between the sides 34 and 35 and slightly divergent, although almostparallel, to the junction 43. The fin 40 is mounted on the side 35 at anangle of about 60 to the junction 42 and slightly divergent, althoughalmost parallel, to the junction 44.

One end of the fin 37 extends to substantially bottom or base end 45 ofthe side 32 while its other end terminates short of the junction 41. Oneend of the fin 38 is disposed adjacent bottom or base end 46 of the side33 of the body 17 while its other end stops short of the junction 43.The fin 39 has one end extending to substantially bottom or base end 47of the side 34 of the body 17 and its other end terminating short of thejunction 44. The fin 40 has one end disposed adjacent bottom or base end48 of the side 35 while its other end stops short of thejunction 42.

As previously mentioned, the support 18 is pivotally mounted on thedischarge or outlet spout 15 of the conveyor or supply pipe 12. Thesupport 18 must be held in the position to which it is adjusted.

Accordingly. means is disposed between the support 18 and a portion ofthe conveyor or supply pipe 12 to cooperate with each to retain thesupport 18 in the desired position. The retaining means includes a firsthollow rod 49 (see FIG. 1), which is pivotally connected to the support18 by being pivotally connected to the rod 25 through a bolt and nut,for example. The retaining means includes a second rod 50, which isslidably disposed within the first hollow rod 49 and has its free endpivotally connected to the nonpivotal portion of the spout 15 by a boltand nut, for example, A setscrew 51 extends through a threaded openingin the first hollow rod 49 to engage the second rod 50 to maintain therods 49 and 50 in the desired position. When it is desired to adjust theposition of the support 18 relative to the discharge or outlet spout 15of the supply pipe 12 so as to maintain the longitudinal axis of thebody 17 substantially perpendicular to the plane of the outlet of thespout 15 when the pivotal portion of the spout 15 is adjusted for adifferent diameter of the silo 10, the setscrew 51 is released. Then,the support 18 is pivoted to the desired position relative to the spout15 to which the support 18 is pivotally connected through sliding thefirst hollow rod 49 relative to the second rod 50. When the body 17 isin the desired position relative to the discharge or outlet spout 15 sothat the longitudinal axis of the body 17 is parallel to the dischargeof the silage from the spout 15, the setscrew 51 is tightened to retainthe body 17 in the desired position relative to the discharge or outletspout l5 ofthe supply pipe 12.

Considering the operation of the present invention, the movable portionof the discharge or outlet spout 15 is pivoted about the pivotalconnection 16 in accordance with the diameter of the silo through anattendant climbing a ladder on the silo 10. As the diameter of the silo10 increases, the pivotal portion of the discharge or outlet portion ispivoted clockwise to properly dispose the discharge or outlet spout 15with respect to the silo l0.

The support 18 is then pivoted relative to the discharge or outlet spout15 by the attendant after initially releasing the adjusted setscrew 51.When thesupport 18 has been pivoted so that the longitudinal axis of thebody 17 is perpendicular to the outlet of the discharge or outlet spout15, this will producesubstantially equal distribution of the silage. Inthis position of the body 17, the setscrew 51 is tightened to lock thebody 17 in this position.

When the silage is supplied through the supply pipe 12 to the dischargeor outlet spout 15 by the blower 14, the force of the silage and thepressurized air emerging from the discharge or outlet spout 15 strikesthe upstanding portions of the fins 37 to 40 on the body 17 to causeclockwise (as viewed in FIG. 3) rotation of the body 17 about thelongitudinal axis of the rod 28. The silage, which moves between the fin37 and the junction 42, is slung to the outer wall of the silo 10 due tothe portion of the side 32 between the fin 37 and the junction 42 exerting a centrifugal force on the silage. The same arrangementsimultaneously exists for all of the other fins 38 to 40 and theportions of the sides of the body 17 on which they are mounted adjacentthe trailing junctions.

By disposing the lower end of each of the fins 37 to 40 so that it isnot forward of the center of the length of the bottom end of the side onwhich the fin is mounted, any portion of the bottom end of the side onwhich the fin is mounted beyond the fin swings through a bigger areabout the longitudinal axis of the rod 28 than the bottom of the finwith the point at each of the junctions having the biggest arc ofrotation. Accordingly, the silage is substantially equally distributedby the body 17 over the entire area of the silo 10 because of the forceexerted on the silage by the portions of the side having a greaterrotating arc than the fin.

Thus, the pyramidal shape of the body 17 in conjunction with the fins 37to 40 results in substantially equal distribution of the silage over theentire area of the silo 10. Furthermore, as the weight of the silageincreases, the speed of rotation of the body 17 increases to provide agreater momentum to the heavier silage so that an increase in weight ofthe silage does not prevent substantially equal distribution of thesilage over the entire area of the silo 10.

The pyramidal-shaped body 17 is effective irrespective of the diameterof the silo since the vertex 36 of the body 17 can be adjustablypositioned relative to the discharge or outlet spout 15 of the supplypipe 12 through openings 52 in the arms 19 and 20 of the support 18.Thus, this adjustment enables there to always be substantially equaldistribution throughout the silo l0 irrespective ofits diameter.

While the present invention has shown and described the silo 10 ashaving an opening 11 in its upper end, it should be understood that thesilo 10 could have a roof thereon with an opening therein through whichthe spout l5 and the body 17 could be inserted. The operation would bethe same as that described.

It should be understood that the spout 15 is adjustably held in anyposition to which the pivotal portion is moved about the pivotalconnection 16. Thus, the pivotal portion of the spout 15 does not moveafter it has been positioned at the desired location relative to thevertical portion of the supply pipe 12.

The pivotal portion of the spout 15 is held in the adjusted position bya bar or rod 53 on each side between the two portions of the spout 15.Each of the bars or rods 53 has a plurality of openings to receive abolt or the like in the nonpivotal portion of the spout 15 to adjust theposition of each of the bars 53 with the adjustment of the pivotalportion of the discharge or outlet spout 15.

As previously mentioned, each of the fins 37 to 40 is slightly divergentto a cooperating junction. This divergence is such that the bottom endof the fin is further from the junction than the top end of the fin. v

An advantage of this invention is that silage can be substantiallyequally distributed throughout the silo. Another advantage of thisinvention is that it is relatively inexpensive. A further advantage ofthis invention is that it may be readily utilized with silos of variousdiameters.

For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodiment of theinvention has been shown and described according to the best presentunderstanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that changes andmodifications in the arrangement and construction of the parts thereofmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1 claim:

1. A distributor for silage or the like including:

a pyramidal-shaped body having a plurality of sides meeting in a vertex;

means to rotatably mount said body;

each of said sides of said body has a fin mounted on its outer surface;

each of said fins being disposed at an angle to a junction between saidside of said body on which said fin is mounted and said side of saidbody closest to said fin so that said fin cooperates with a junctionbetween said side of said body on which said fin is mounted and saidside of said body remote from said fin to form a path for the silage;

and each of said fins extending to substantially the base end of saidside of said body.

2. The distributor according to claim 1 including:

means to support said body on a silage supply pipe or the like;

said support means including one portion of said rotatably mountingmean;

and said body having the other portion of said rotatably mounting meansfor cooperation with said one portion of said rotatably mounting means.

3. The distributor according to claim 2 in which:

said support means includes means to pivotally mount said body on thesupply pipe or the like to adjust the position of said body relative tothe supply pipe or the like by pivoting said support means about saidpivotal mounting means to dispose the longitudinal axis of said bodyparallel to the discharge path of the silage from the supply pipe or thelike;

and means cooperating with said support means and the supply pipe or thelike to retain said body in its adjusted position.

4. The distributor according to claim 3 in which each of said O fins hasits end that extends to substantially the base end of said side of saidbody disposed at least half the length of the bottom end of said sidefrom the bottom end of the junction that has the other end of said findisposed adjacent thereto.

5. The distributor according to claim 2 in which said support meansincludes means to adjust the distance of the vertex of said body fromthe outlet of the supply pipe or the like.

6. The distributor according to claim 2 in which said body has apolygonal-shaped base with each side of the base having substantiallythe same length.

7. The distributor according to claim 2 in which said body has asquare-shaped base.

8. The distributor according to claim 1 in which said body has apolygonal-shaped base with each side of the base having substantiallythe same length.

9. The distributor according to claim 1 in which said body has asquare-shaped base.

10. The distributor according to claim 1 in which each of said fins hasits end that extends to substantially the base end of said side of saidbody disposed at least half the length of the bottom end of said sidefrom the bottom end of the junction that has the other end of said findisposed adjacent thereto.

1. A distributor for silage or the like including: a pyramidal-shapedbody having a plurality of sides meeting in a vertex; means to rotatablymount said body; each of said sides of said body has a fin mounted onits outer surface; each of said fins being disposed at an angle to ajunction between said side of said body on which said fin is mounted andsaid side of said body closest to said fin so that said fin cooperateswith a junction between said side of said body on which said fin ismounted and said side of said body remote from said fin to form a pathfor the silage; and each of said fins extending to substantially thebase end of said side of said body.
 2. The distributor according toclaim 1 including: means to support said body on a silage supply pipe orthe like; said support means including one portion of said rotatablymounting mean; and said body having the other portion of said rotatablymounting means for cooperation with said one portion of said rotatablymounting means.
 3. The distributor according to claim 2 in which: saidsupport means includes means to pivotally mount said body on the supplypipe or the like to adjust the position of said body relative to thesupply pipe or the like by pivoting said support means about saidpivotal mounting means to dispose the longitudinal axis of said bodyparallel to the discharge path of the silage from the supply pipe or thelike; and means cooperating with said support means and the supply pipeor the like to retain said body in its adjusted position.
 4. Thedistributor according to claim 3 in which each of said fins has its endThat extends to substantially the base end of said side of said bodydisposed at least half the length of the bottom end of said side fromthe bottom end of the junction that has the other end of said findisposed adjacent thereto.
 5. The distributor according to claim 2 inwhich said support means includes means to adjust the distance of thevertex of said body from the outlet of the supply pipe or the like. 6.The distributor according to claim 2 in which said body has apolygonal-shaped base with each side of the base having substantiallythe same length.
 7. The distributor according to claim 2 in which saidbody has a square-shaped base.
 8. The distributor according to claim 1in which said body has a polygonal-shaped base with each side of thebase having substantially the same length.
 9. The distributor accordingto claim 1 in which said body has a square-shaped base.
 10. Thedistributor according to claim 1 in which each of said fins has its endthat extends to substantially the base end of said side of said bodydisposed at least half the length of the bottom end of said side fromthe bottom end of the junction that has the other end of said findisposed adjacent thereto.